programa de índio

portuguese idioms 101:
IN PORTUGUESE we use the expression 'PROGRAMA DE ÍNDIO', which when literally translated it means 'indian activity', or something along those lines.  not sure why that seemingly racist term was coined, but it's widely used even to this day.  i imagine it would have originated from back when the portuguese arrived in brazil and saw how the natives lived.  not much comfort in a hot and humid weather, they lived in homes made from banana leaves, they had to hunt their own food, i mean... why would anyone think that's a good idea???  it's not, and now the portuguese were stuck in the same situation.  i imagine some of them thought they should've stayed in bed instead of heading out to the docks the morning the captain decided to set sail and find a new land.  and that's the sentiment of the term 'programa de índio'.  the expression IS USED TO DESCRIBE ANY sort of activity that is A complete drag, feels like a waste of time, is INCONVENIENT rather than fun, is POORLY PLANNED, organized and/or executed.  a good example of a programa de indio ACTIVITY is spending your anniversary checking out a piece of property out in the middle of nowhere, walking in sandy terrain thoroughly covered with antelope's crap.

true story, i just did that the other day.

let me explain...
scott has a few friends who are interested in going in on a land deal.  they're thinking about buying this huge piece of property for recreational purposes.  it's near a lake, so it's at least a good investment.  they have been considering a couple of different options, and they've come to the point where they wanted to check out the lots.  so they proposed to do just that, going scouting for the advertised acreage they had heard about.  it just so happens that they decided to do that on june 12th, which happens to be mine and scott's anniversary.  it's also valentine's day in brazil, but that's just a cute detail, and is beside the point.

scott told me of the outing the boys were planning, and how long it would take... if WE JOINED them the plan was that we'd be picked up by 7:30 am and be back by 2 or 3 pm.  i'm a good sport, and i wanted to be supportive.  we would still have plenty of time to get back from this outing with FRIENDS and go out to celebrate our day, so i agreed to join the scouting trip.

the land itself was not at all what i had expected to see - in a bad way, unfortunately.  so i was disappointed that we had come out all this way TO CHECK OUT A LAND THAT, aside from the lake, RESEMBLED IRAQ in my opinion.  lots of oil rigs and sandy terrain.  evidently i was the only one who felt that way.  the other 9 people who were there with us thought the place was awesome.  scott loves the outdoors and when he saw the rocky formations in the area he was like  like a baby chick in a pile of left overs (another portuguese idiom, btw, that is used to describe people who are bugging out in excitement over something little and trivial.  if you ever saw a baby chick going through a pile of left overs you'd know exactly why this term was coined). but I HAD seen enough and had STEPPED ON ENOUGH antelope DUNG (it was literally e-v-e-r-y-where), so I WAS READY TO GO HOME. i felt like a true party pooper, which was ironic because there were obviously other creatures out there that were responsible for any poop we were dealing with.   

i won't get into all the details of the time we spent checking out the land, which was way longer than needed, but between getting lost from my husband, getting the car stuck in the sand, having the expectation we'd have lunch at a nice restaurant just to find out 45 minutes later it was a greasy food joint in a podunk town, trying to keep other people's dogs off my lap because they had actually eaten human feces while out in the wild, and almost getting killed in a head on collision against a semi truck because our driver had a blank brain moment and decided to pass a truck under zero visibility i think i can safely say THIS WAS about THE WORST programa de índio IDEA i've found myself in in a long time! AND ON MY ANNIVERSARY!

WE finally GOT HOME AT 6PM, i was super tired, and CRANKIER THAN MAXINE.  poor SCOTT was the one who felt my wrath - i was so upset and frustrated with my wasted day i didn't want to even look at him.  i felt bad, it wasn't like that day had been his fault.  once i felt like talking to him again we both expressed how frustrating that day had been, mostly because we had other plans.  so he PROMISED ME A HULLIGAN, and he's taking me out this coming weekend for a real celebration. i have the best husband in the world. :)

AS FOR THE darn PROPERTY...  i hated the experience so much that now i just don't want to buy the land.  partially out of spite, partially because i really didn't like that particular lot. but i took some pictures, and my pictures prove I really TRIED *very* hard TO SEE more BEAUTY than thorns in the place!  AND looking at these i can say I THINK I ACTUALLY SUCCEEDED.  we still want to invest in land, but i want to look around some more and do a lot more research about the location before we commit to anything.

lake view from the rim

scott super enthused  by a burned down gothic looking tree

wild flowers on the property

 cactus and flowers on the grounds

 juniper berries are throughout the 60 acres